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May 25, 2012 Cc: fiscai Accreditation See Sheriff Jerry L. Demings approval ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE TELEPHONE: 407.254.7000 PO. BOX 1440, ORLANDO, FLORIDA 32802-1440 www.OCSO.COM endorsement form for othes direction. Sheriff Jerry L. Demings Orange County Sheriff's Office 2500 West Colonial Drive Orlando, Florida 32804 Dear Sheriff Demings, On February 16, 2012, you charged your Citizens' Advisory Committee with answering the question of whether there are opportunities to improve the sheriff's office policies, equipment, or practices regarding traffic crashes involving law enforcement officers and their vehicles. You asked the committee to look at this subject and submit any recommendations which may keep the public safe, keep your employees safe, reduce the frequency of accidents and reduce the amount of money spent repairing your vehicles. The following is a brief summary of the process the committee used to identify its recommendations: The committee met six (6) times. We had several presentations and discussions with Orange County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) staff from your Legal, Training, Law Enforcement Vehicle Operations (LEVO), Risk Management, and Uniform Patrol Divisions. The committee reviewed multiple documents, which include, but are not limited to, the following: OCSO General Order 9.1.5 (Vehicle Operation) Training Bulletin 00-2 (Accident/Incident Report) OCSO General Order 9.1.1 (Agency Vehicles) OCSO General Order 20.1.14 (Vehicle Crash Review Committee) An analysis of agency vehicle traffic data regarding past agency vehicle crashes from 2009 through 2011. Four (4) other law enforcement agencies' vehicle policies: 1. Florida Highway Patrol 2. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office 3. Las Vegas (Nevada) Metropolitan Police Department 4. Minneapolis (Minnesota) Police Department Note: The Orlando Police Department and the Atlanta (Georgia) Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for their policy. The First Law Enforcement Agency in Orange County to Receive Both International and State Accreditation May 25, 2012 Page 2 • A presentation from Mr. John Petrelli, CPCU, AIC, ARM, a Manager from Orange County Government who did a presentation on their "Drive Cam" program. International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) study regarding in-car camera systems. Through these presentations, discussions, and several hours worth of independent study of the many materials we received during this review, the Sheriff's Citizens Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend the following to be considered by your agency. Recommendation number 1: Initially purchase one hundred (100) in car Mobile Video Recording (MVR) devices similar to the ones already installed in the Evening Traffic Unit's vehicles. MVR devices should be assigned to units as you deem appropriate. Additional devices could be purchased at a future time as monies become available if the program proves to be beneficial. Recommendation number 2: Purchase new vehicles with the "audible back up sensor" or "audible reverse sensor" feature installed as the sheriff's office replaces older model or high mileage vehicles through normal attrition. The audible sensor feature should only be audible inside the vehicle and not outside the vehicle for officer safety reasons. Recommendation number 3: Continue to build valuable crash data categories to determine crash patterns, behaviors, and training needs through the newly established Vehicle Crash Review Committee (VCRC) and the expansion of the Human Resources Division/Risk Management Section database. Recommendation number 4: Create a new policy addressing what is commonly referred to as "distracted driving" that governs employees while driving agency vehicles. The overall goal of the policy would be to limit or prohibit the use of wireless voice/data communication devices, either agency owned or personally owned, for data communication (i.e. sending or reading text messages or electronic mail) while an agency owned vehicle is in motion, understanding exceptions such as employees utilizing Mobile Data Computers, police radios, and even cellular telephones for operational necessity would still be necessary. May 25, 2012 Page 3 The Sheriff's Citizens' Advisory Committee thanks you for the opportunity to serve and provide these recommendations to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Respectfully Submitted, With Dat Walter Hawkins, Chairman OCSO Sheriff's Citizens' Advisory Committee cc: committee members Captain Ted Brown